2010 Year in Preview

I had a great run this evening. It was cold and Mike and I were planning on running 4 miles, 2 laps of a 2 mile circuit near our work. It was about 16F out and clear, no wind and getting dark when we started. We took off at a moderate pace while we talked about the day and about Mike's upcoming marathon, the Rock & Roll Phoenix Marathon. Lap 1 was 16:50, average 8:25.

On lap 2, we continued our moderate pace and averaged 8:24. We were close to finishing this circuit and I wanted to go another 2 miles (or 1 lap). I tried to convince Mike that I would pick up the pace for him since the pace we were going was pedestrian for him. He decided to do the lap with me and we pick it up. We pretty much stop talking as I am trying to push it faster and faster as we go on. The final 2 miles end up at14:20, or 7:10 average pace. This is why the run was a great one. We could have gone faster if it was warmer, but since it was cold, my quads were at about the fastest they could go without pulling something. It almost felt like they were on the verge near the end. So overall for the 6 miles, we averaged 8:00 pace so I am going to call this a tempo run.

So what do I have planned for 2010? I would like to increase my miles to about 1700 for the year, this is 220 more than last year. This should be doable if no major injuries occur. That is the key.

The next goal is to get my marathon time back down to 3:45. Of course a sub 4 will still feel good, but I would like it back down to where I know I can run, but just haven't in 2 years.

I want to get my 5K time back under 20 minutes. This could happen in the later spring or summer when I am back to running more tempo runs and track workouts. These would be the major goals for the year.

Now, what races do I have planned? Well, January 23rd and 24th is the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon and Half Marathon. The Half is on the 23rd and the Full is on the 24th. Ultimately I would love to go Sub 2/Sub 4, but realistically a goal of 4:15 is what I should shoot for in the Full.

I am taking the girls to see my parents in Panama City Beach, FL in early March (they are now officially snowbirds) and I found a nice smaller marathon to so on the way down. Saturday, March 6th I plan on running the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon in Albany, Georgia. I have read that this is a pretty fast one so I may try to go for a good time. The problem with this is that I will be driving 16 hours to get down there so I may be wiped out from the drive. I plan on taking 2 days for the drive, leave after school on Thursday, drive halfway, then drive the rest of the way on Friday to get to the Expo before it closes.

In early April, I plan on running the Trailbreaker Marathon here in Wisconsin. It starts only 11 miles from my house. I put a race report on this one in the spring last year and one of the organizers wanted more of my opinions so I wrote him some of the things I liked and what I thought needed improving. I would like to see if they took my advise or not. This one would be run strictly as a training run, slow and steady. they have not update their website recently so I hope they have not decided to scrap the race like they did in 2008.

There are 2 5K I like to do, 1 in April and the other on the 4th of July. I hope to run both of these again. There also is a short Triathlon in late April I may attempt. If not this one, maybe one in the summer.

In May, I plan on running the Door County Half Marathon again. I really liked this race and it was organized very well. If things go well, perhaps I can PR once again and break 1:40 here. there is also a possibility of running another full marathon in May or early June.

The summer should be major training months with maybe some short 5K's or 10K's and then in the fall, run 2 full marathons. I have not decided on any full marathons so if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

So that is the plan so far. It will change many times during the year, but it is good to start with something set in pencil.

What are your plans?